The Philippines notified the United States on Tuesday it would end a major security pact allowing American forces to train in the country – a pivotal move under President Rodrigo Duterte, who continues to warm to China while distancing itself from the nation’s colonial ruler.
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin announced on Twitter that he notified the U.S. Embassy in Manila that the Philippines is pulling out of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). The accord allows American forces, along with U.S. military ships and aircraft, to rotate through Philippine military bases for roughly 300 joint exercises annually with Filipino troops.
“The Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the United States has received the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement,†Locsin tweeted. “As a diplomatic courtesy, there will be no further factual announcements following this self-explanatory development.â€
The agreement will be terminated in 180 days unless both sides can negotiate a way to keep it. The U.S. Embassy in Manila acknowledged receipt of Manila’s notice and said Washington “will carefully consider how best to move forward to advance our shared interests.â€
<snip>
Despite a 69-year alliance between the two nations, solidified by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, President Duterte has repeatedly lashed out against Washington, specifically after the U.S. visa of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa was canceled over alleged human rights violations committed as national police chief.
After Duterte took office in 2016, dela Rosa enforced the president’s deadly anti-drug crackdown, carrying out a bloody campaign that reportedly killed thousands of mostly poor Filipinos, The Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, China has been courting the Philippines, as well as other nations in the region, like Cambodia, as part of its effort to seize control of the South China Sea.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/philippines-duterte-terminate-us-military-pact-security-troops-vfa
